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Stella Fly Fisher
by Brian Ellis
My father was browsing through some old pictures and came across this slide of my late grandma, Stella Ellis. Based on some other slides in the roll (i.e. pictures of my gradfather's car), my Dad is guessing that the slide was taken around 1941 when he was about 10 years old.

I was quite amazed how fashionable she looked in her modern hip waders, her denim jeans, flannel shirt, and hairpiece bandanna. The three-piece fly rod and reel definitely made this picture a candidate for the braggin' board. I find it somewhat remarkable that with all the space-age material available today, nobody has been able to improve on cork handles.

When I finally purchased a slide scanner I was anxious to get my hands on this slide and see if I could restore it. Although the slide had "yellowed" considerably, I believe I was able to closely recapture the original colors. There are still quite a few imperfections and hopefully I will be able to improve the image further someday.

I was very close to my grandma; she was quite an outdoors women. My Dad purchased a cabin in remote Reynolds County Missouri near the upper Black River when I was eight years old (he's still owns it) and that's where I learned to fish and appreciate the great outdoors. My brother and I fondly remember going on fishing trips there with Dad and Grandma. I remember during our summer family vacations, Grandma would wake-up at dawn and hike down the ridge (about a quarter of a mile) to the river by herself to fish for black bass. Now... I wished I would have joined her.
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